advice on buying a road bike

javidr

Hi

I have a hybrid bike (trek 7.3) and i have tried to move to the road bike world, but, i feel some pain in my back muscles in the right hand side.

I assume that it is because those muscles are not strong, or my position on the bike is incorrect

I hope that with some practise and familiarisation it will be sorted out but.... what if not?

Hence, i dont want to spend a lot of money on a good bike. I want a bike just to get familiar to the position and see if my issues improve. If so, i will go back again to ask for advice for a good bike


So, having that in mind, which options should i consider? I have seen btwin, but i have heard bad things about those, and also Carrera bikes in Halfords, that look much more better, specially the Zelos and TdF models

What is your recommendation?

Thanks

nuclearred955

Interested to know what "bad things" you have heard about B'Twin? The general concensus is that they are good quality and excellent value - certainly more so than Halfords own-brand tat.

I admit to being biased myself, as I came back to road riding a few years ago with a £300 B'Twin Triban - for the money it was ridiculously good, I put 12000+ km on it and still have it as a winter hack.

That aside, I'd probably suggest you look at the secondhand market for a first road bike - you'll get much more bike for your money & won't lose much if you sell it on later.

javidr

Thanks for the answer. I heard that Btwin gear are bad as the chain rubs with the derralieur constantly

Carrera is owned by Halfords? I thought it was an independent branch

The carrera zelos and tdf are 199 pounds. I dont think i will find a second hand bike for less than that...

Thanks

londoncommuter

Well done for being so sensible by the way. If you're not sure at all about sizing and fit it's much better not to dive into a Cervelo shop now (but get one later....).

What's your strategy to get one now that's as close as possible to your ideal size? You can't really trust your average Halfords employee to get that right although you might be lucky.

javidr

Hi

I know my aprox size. I have tried a focus cayo 54cm and a bianchi via nirone 7 53cm, so something in that range would be good

londoncommuter

Oh, you're going to be slumming it a bit after trying those bikes! As someone mentioned above, and if you think you're going to be roughly right you could gamble and spend say £500/£600 on a pretty decent second hand bike instead. If it works for you then you could keep it and if not sell it for almost the same?

javidr

But thats the thing... if i buy the bike and i dont feel well, i have to sell it, and probably will sell it for a decent price, but, what if not?

Thats why i was thinking in buying a 200 pounds bike, just to improve my position and feel more familiar with this.

If it works fine, i will happily spend more pounds in a decent bike. If not... i have lost 200 pounds (or maybe less if i can resell it!)

isotonik

I've heard people say not to buy second hand carbon without an inspection certificate.

It sounds like a gran fondo will best suit you thus giving you less strain on your back like a race geo will do.

londoncommuter

isotonik wrote:

I've heard people say not to buy second hand carbon without an inspection certificate.

It sounds like a gran fondo will best suit you thus giving you less strain on your back like a race geo will do.

A bit off topic now but second hand carbon is not really any worse than other materials that if someone has stacked the bike and doesn't tell you then you run a risk. You just have to assess whether the seller is trustworthy, give it a careful once over and preferably a test ride. Kind of think that most people on here are decent enough to not sell helmets, baby seats, frames etc that have had impacts without telling you.

Anyone that claims to be able to asses internal damage to frames (with their X-Ray vision?) and issue a certificate for less than the bike costs isn't worth relying on!

Anyway, the OP seems set on a new bike so I guess we're really off topic. On that, as 2017 models hit the market this is a good time to start looking for bargain 2016 models.

nuclearred955

In fairness if your budget is £200 and you're not willing to consider a used bike, I can't help feeling that you might struggle to find anything that won't just put you off.

What bike do you currently have? The term "hybrid" gets used to describe everything from a slick-tyred hardtail MTB to a flat-bar road bike. You might be better off making some minor mods to your existing bike, depending on what type it is.

Re BTwin derailleurs - my Triban 3 originally had an 8-speed Shimano 2300 triple setup, and really only had any chain rub at all when running extreme & inadvisable cross-chained gear combinations, so was never an issue day-to-day. The current equivalent (Triban 500) uses Microshift derailleurs - I have no personal experience of these but haven't read anything about them that suggests an inherent issue.

AFAIK Carrera is only sold through Halfords so I assume they own the brand.

javidr

I currently have trek 7.3. It was 525

To be clear, i am ready to spend 200 to see if i can ride those bikes, it doesnt mean this is my budget for a road bike

Another option i am considering is 6 weeks refund policy in Halfords... If i am not feeling well in the bike i can return it, so it opens a window to a new segment of bikes

Boardman CX Comp looks decent...

nuclearred955

Your Trek's pretty much a flat-bar road bike. Properly set-up, your riding position on the hoods of a drop-bar roadie shouldn't be too dissimilar to that of the Trek - assuming that's correctly set up for you.

It does sound like you need to get to ride a halfway decent road bike to see if that's what you want, so the Halfords 6-week refund thing might be a sensible way to go.

javidr

Yep, the trek is quick, but the position is really different in a road bike. I have tried a couple of those and i can feel how different it is

Your comment gave me a nasty idea... would a road bike handlebar fit in my trek 7.3? That would be a great test too to get familiar to that position

Thanks